How To Prepare Your Wood Deck For Summer

If your home has a wood deck you know that maintaining its beauty is a part of the ownership experience. There are many steps to maintaining the condition and appearance of your deck, and the great majority of those steps need to be enacted before the summer heat is in full swing.

We offer these steps to preparing your wood deck for the summer.

Start With A Sweep.

After winter, the first thing you need to do is give your deck a good, deep spring cleaning! Your spring deck cleaning starts by sweeping leaves and dirt from the surface. Don’t forget places underneath furniture where insects (or mice!) have spent the winter hiding from the elements.

Deep Cleaning.

Next, wash embedded dirt with a power washer is essential. If you don’t have a power washer, many hardware stores offer power tools for rent, which is a thrifty way to go if you don’t want to invest hundreds in a machine of your own.

Replace Fasteners and Remove Splinters Dirt

This can keep water on the wood surface for extended periods of time, causing rot or mildew damage. Washing it away will not only help prevent this damage but will also reveal nails, screws, or splinters that have made their way up over winter. Now that they’re clearly visible, reset those fasteners and remove splinters that can cause injury to flip-flop laden (or bare) summertime feet.

TIP: Wash the House While You’re At It!

Replace Boards!

Sometimes deck boards are beyond repair due to poor maintenance or simply old age. When that happens, it’s time to just replace the whole board instead of trying to wash away the damage. Remove the damaged board and replace it with a new one. Remember: Measure twice, cut once! And we it’s best to use circular saws for wood cutting, because they’re portable and easier to handle for single wood boards.

Revamp That Colour!

After you’ve washed your deck, renew its colour with a fresh coat of stain or other sealant. There are many colors and opacities to consider at this stage, which is what makes this part so fun! You can go au naturale and use a clear sealant, or choose one of hundreds of colours to give your deck more personality.

Don’t Forget the Rails!

The rails are a part of your deck as well, so don’t forget to clean and stain them too. One fun idea is to paint your rails — and the posts! — different colours than the deck floor. This offers colourful contrasts to what might otherwise be plain, straight (and boring) wood railing.

Now that your deck is officially prepped for summer, here are 10 Awesome Ideas to make your deck really summer ready!

Refresh with outdoor lighting. While you can get expensive street-style lamps, you can also get whimsical by stringing white twinkle lights along deck rails or installing hanging paper lanterns overhead. Let your imagination run wild!

Install an outdoor projector & screen for outdoor movie binges!

Slides! If you have a second-story deck, attach a slide that drops into a sandbox for the kids to play on.

Add a rustic pallet item.

Hanging flower baskets or rail planters bring life to any deck.

For sun-drenched decks, consider installing an awning to help block the heat…

…and then put in a deck cooler to keep the visitors hydrated!

Put in a fire pit.

Add a water feature.

While the cleaning part isn’t so fun, preparing your wood deck for summer is more than just tidying things up. From stain colours to accessories you can add after you’ve cleaned the wood, ways to customize your deck and prepare for an amazing outdoor summer are nearly endless.